New Teacher Contract Approved

The Mt Lebanon School Board last night approved a new 5-year contract with the Mt Lebanon Education Association.

Please see these links:

School District Press Release
Post-Gazette Article
Mt. Lebanon Education Association Information (information about the ratification procedure)

As I said at the meeting last night, this vote was a tough, tough call. I truly feel as if there are two realities in place at the moment. One reality is where private sector workers are doing whatever they can to remain employed. This may mean taking smaller pay increase, no increases, or reductions in pay. We are in an era of wage stagnation and teetering on wage deflation in the private sector. The reality in which our Board and negotiating team had to operate in negotiating the contract with the MLEA was one in which public sector unions have had more "traditional" wage increases. It's almost as if the recession has not hit home for these unions based on many recently settled contracts.

So how does one balance across this chasm between private and public sector union pay?

For me, it starts out by looking at the entire contract and not just the headline number. The headline number of 4.15% average wage increase per year for five years in today's economic environment seems unreasonable on the surface. And quite honestly, if it was just about this salary increase there is no way the contract would have had my support. It is beneath the surface where things start to get interesting. Here is my checklist of why I supported the contract:

1) No step or pay increase for a teacher that receives and "unsatisactory" rating. This puts us on a path to discussing merit pay, something that very few Districts across our State can say they have in their contracts. As a former union member/shop steward myself, I can tell you that this is a very significant gain for the District and a testament to the MLEA's willingness to do what's best for our students.

2) Healthcare contributions rise to 10% of total premium and employees will need to cover the difference if they choose the PPO plan (more expensive) over the HMO plan. The 10% number, while not large compared to the private sector, is towards the higher end of comparator school districts.

3) Two additional teacher days per year plus 15 minutes more per day of instructional time. The increase in instructional time will allow more teacher/student "face-time" and again shows the District's and MLEA's understanding that increased achievement should be a goal for both of us. I believe the added face time has the potential to help increase test and achievement scores and lead to better educational outcomes for all students.

4) The District has negotiated increased management rights in being able to have a say in Extra Duty Responsibilities. EDRs are an added cost to the District and being able to rein in some of the expense associated with the EDRs with result in a long-term net benefit to the District.

It is my opinion that in order to gain the rights/concessions outlined above as well as a number of other management rights throughout the contract, it was necessary to award a raise higher than I initially thought was my limit.

At the end of the day I had to ask myself whether our negotiating team did the best they possibly could at the table. Given recent arbitration awards and other recently settled teachers contracts, I do feel that this was the best we could do while maintaining a good labor relationship with the MLEA.

Thanks for reading.

James

The Higher Education Bubble

I was referred to two opinion pieces in the Washington Times today. One was from back on June 6th and the other from August 8th. Writer Glenn Reynolds talks about what he thinks is the Higher Education Bubble and what will come next.

Mr. Reynolds is suggesting that higher education is in a bubble much like housing was in 2007. Glenn offers some advice to students (don't go into debt) and colleges (don't go on spending binges).

If true, the article also talks about some interesting ramifications when/if students get priced out of college.

...a college degree is an expensive way to get an entry-level credential. New approaches to credentialing, approaches that inform employers more reliably, while costing less than a college degree, are likely to become increasingly appealing over the coming decade.

To get an idea of how much out of whack college tuition has risen, please take a look at the following chart which compares CPI, Housing Prices, and Tuition.


Click on picture for larger image.

Relative to the housing bubble, that rise in tuition is something to behold.

Thanks for reading.

James